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77.6 percent of 2017 bachelor's degree recipients were employed in October 2017

May 24, 2018

There were 2.0 million people ages 20 to 29 who earned college degrees between January and October 2017. About 1.2 million of these recent degree recipients earned a bachelor’s degree, 442,000 earned an advanced degree, and 378,000 earned an associate degree. Among recent bachelor’s degree recipients, 77.6 percent were employed in October 2017.

Employment–population ratios for recent college degree recipients ages 20 to 29, by degree type, October 2007–October 2017
Year Associate degree Bachelor's degree Advanced degree

2007

80.0% 77.6% 90.3%

2008

74.9 77.7 79.4

2009

69.3 68.8 80.8

2010

68.6 70.1 79.5

2011

77.5 72.5 83.2

2012

74.4 73.1 74.3

2013

73.7 72.6 78.0

2014

72.9 70.6 81.2

2015

65.5 76.7 79.3

2016

73.3 70.9 79.8

2017

79.8 77.6 77.5

The employment–population ratios were similar in October 2017 among all three groups of degree recipients. Among recent associate degree recipients, 79.8 percent were employed in October 2017. Among recent advanced degree recipients, 77.5 percent were employed.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see “College Enrollment and Work Activity of Recent High School and College Graduates — 2017” (HTML) (PDF). Advanced degrees include master’s, professional, or doctoral degree.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 77.6 percent of 2017 bachelor's degree recipients were employed in October 2017 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/77-point-6-percent-of-2017-bachelors-degree-recipients-were-employed-in-october-2017.htm (visited November 07, 2024).

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